40 Of The Most Bad-Ass, Masculine, Manly, Alpha Male Quotes Of All Time

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. — Lance Armstrong

Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead. — Roger Bannister

Let’s Roll. — Todd Beamer on United Airlines Flight 93

Now listen, you queer, you stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the godd@mn face and you’ll stay plastered. — William F. Buckley to Gore Vidal

I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! — George W. Bush from the wreckage of the WTC

I came. I saw. I conquered. — Julius Caesar

But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour. — Winston Churchill

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas. — Davy Crockett

You’ll never get a Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me! — Capt. Henry P. Crowe, Guadalcanal, January 1943

Come on, you sons of b*tches! Do you want to live forever? — GySgt. Daniel J. ‘Dan’ Daly, as he led the 5th Marines’ attack into Belleau Wood, 6 June 1918

I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country. — Nathan Hale before being hung by the British

Before we’re through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell. — William F. Halsey’s response after seeing the wreckage of Pearl Harbor

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!” — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! — Patrick Henry, 1775

We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid: none is at hand. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father’s name. — Sam Houston

One man with courage makes a majority. — Andrew Jackson

I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. — Thomas Jefferson

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm’s way. — John Paul Jones

I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you. — Genghis Khan

Four things greater than all things are, – Women and Horses and Power and War. — Rudyard Kipling

If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting. — Curtis LeMay

I shall return. — Douglas MacArthur (And he did)

Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails. — Machiavelli

If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up. – Abraham Maslow

You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour. — Miyamoto Musashi

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. — George Orwell

Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here — Captain John Parker, 1775

Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I’d shoot a snake! — George Patton

Don’t you forget that you’re First Marines! Not all the communists in Hell can overrun you! — ‘Chesty’ Puller rallying his First Marine Regiment near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950

Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. — Ronald Reagan after bombing Libya

It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the Arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat. — Teddy Roosevelt

With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men. — Samson

Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow! — John Stark at the Battle of Bennington in 1777

[If this call is neglected] I am determined to sustain myself for as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. — William Travis, Commander at the Alamo

My life is simple, my food is plain, and my quarters are uncluttered. In all things, I have sought clarity. I face the troubles and problems of life and death willingly. Virtue, integrity and courage are my priorities. I can be approached, but never pushed; befriended but never coerced; killed but never shamed. — Yi Sun-sin

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. — Mark Twain

I’ll show you how an Italian dies! — Fabrizio Quattrocchi, just before he was murdered by terrorists in Iraq

It’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. — Emiliano Zapata